Government Efficiency - overview

We are determined to deliver a better deal for taxpayers and ensure that resources are targeted sharply at front-line services. Savings achieved in lower priority areas will help departments live within tight budgets agreed at the Spending Review.

To deliver these savings, we know that a step change is needed to ensure that real, cashable efficiencies are secured. We must adopt a new approach of unprecedented ambition that enables us to:

change the culture of government procurement and spending

remove central targets that have burdened front-line services in the past

take specific action in a wide range of areas (for example by centrally renegotiating major contracts)

We do not believe that government has all the answers. In many cases we can learn from business, which is why we’ve appointed non-executive directors to help shape our approach. Very often the best ideas for saving money will come from staff at the frontline or in departments, as was demonstrated when 63,000 ideas for saving money were submitted by public servants to the Spending Challenge website.

But we also know that the greatest savings will only be achieved by working together across government, sharing scarce resources and establishing a tough central mandate that pools buying power to secure the best possible economy of scale.

To help deliver these savings the Government has set up a group in the Cabinet Office to combine existing expertise and drive the pace of change. We will soon set out on this website exactly how we have already started to save money and improve efficiency.

A significant part of our drive towards greater efficiency will focus on the Government’s Major Projects which account for millions of pounds of taxpayers money. The Major Projects Authority will became fully operational at the beginning of April with the aim of significantly improving the success rate of Major Projects across government.